The Metro had an article about this recently: the cruelty of reality T.V. shows. And as much as I love SYTYCD, I feel like this show exemplifies this extremely well, albeit subtlely (depending on who you are).
INTERRUPTION: Just saw a commercial for "House". HAHA. Oh man...
Anyhoo. While SYTYCD displays an awesome amount of dance talent (the most diverse of any show that is on the air. Feel free to try and prove me wrong), it also counts on the embarrassment of other dancers in order to boost viewer ratings.
Whenever a dancer that does not meet the judges' expectations audition, not only are they rejected, but they are ridiculed and laughed at on national television for the entertainment of others. Although the judges' claim that these dancers do not deserve any respect because they are there wasting the time and being disrespectful to dancers who take the auditions seriously, this is completely hypocritical. The dancers are prescreened before they are brought in front of a panel of judges, so the fact that they are in front of the three judges is because they weren't prescreened out. That said, perhaps the fact that they even turned up at the auditions in the first place is disrespectful, but allowing them to go on not only knowing, but counting on, the fact that they will be embarrassed is also disrespectful and cruel. When viewers cringe because of someone else's disappointment or failure, that turns into sponsorship for the show. Money earned from generating pain.
But hey, that's showbiz, no?
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